Follow the author of this article

Follow the topics within this article

One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson has posted the first image on his Instagram account since the tragic death of his mother, Johannah, to thank his fans for all their support.

The star, 24, took to the social media site to post a photograph of himself and collaborator DJ Steve Aoki just after their performance of Tomlinson’s debut solo single, Just Hold On, at the X Factor final on Saturday evening in Wembley Arena.

He simply captioned the photo, “Thank you for all the incredible support.” It has already received over 1.5 million likes in under 24 hours, as well as thousands of further messages of support from his dedicated fans.

“What you’ve done, the bravery, I respect you as an artist and I respect you as a person. Your mum was so proud of you Louis, she was so looking forward to tonight, she’s watching down on you now and you’ve done her proud."

Louis Tomlinson performs his debut solo single Just Hold On on the X Factor

Just Hold On – a high-energy dance tune that brings EDM to a more mainstream audience and was released on Saturday – has already topped the UK's iTunes charts, and is tipped for the Christmas number one spot.

Johannah is survived by her husband, seven children, and grandchild, 10-month-old Freddie, who is Louis' son.